Trump Commits To Clinton Debates — But With Conditions

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has committed to three debates with Democrat nominee Hillary Clinton. But just as he says he did in the primaries, Trump promises he will be negotiating the terms upon which those debates will take place.

The debates will take place Sept. 26 in Hempstead, N.Y., Oct. 9 in St. Louis, and Oct. 19 in Las Vegas. A vice-presidential debate is scheduled for Farmville, Va., on Oct. 4.

“I will absolutely do three debates…I want to debate very badly,” Trump said in an interview with Time magazine. “But I have to see the conditions.”

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One of the conditions Trump wants input on is in regards to the moderators of the debates. As Western Journal extensively reported, Trump was not happy with how he perceived he was treated in the Republican primary debates, beginning with questioning by Fox News Channel’s Megyn Kelly at the first Republican primary debate. Trump even refused to participate in the Fox News debate in Iowa in January after he was unsuccessful in having Kelly removed as a moderator.

“I’ll have to see who the moderators are. Yeah, I would say that certain moderators would be unacceptable, absolutely,” Trump said of his debates with Clinton. “I want to have fair moderators … I will demand fair moderators.”

The moderators of the three debates have not yet been determined. But in light of Trump’s demand to have negotiating power over that aspect, some are wondering if it’s possible Trump may skip some of the debates with Clinton.

While the Commission on Presidential Debates, which organizes the events, told Time its format for the debates are non-negotiable, Trump believes he’ll still be able to have a say in what happens.

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“I renegotiated the debates in the primaries, remember?” Trump said. “They were making a fortune on them and they had us in for three and a half hours and I said that’s ridiculous. I’m sure they’ll be open to any suggestions I have, because I think they’ll be very fair suggestions.”

Trump, who some polls suggest is training Clinton by double-digit margins, says he looks forward to winning the debates against the former Secretary of State.

“I did very well in the debates on the primaries,” Trump said. “According to the polls, I won all of them. So I look forward to the debates.”

Clinton campaign spokesperson John Podesta says Trump’s attempts to control the moderators and negotiate is just Trump’s “shenanigans.”

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“It is concerning that the Trump campaign is already engaged in shenanigans around these debates,” Podesta said Monday. “It is not clear if he is trying to avoid debates, or merely toying with the press to create more drama. Either way, our campaign is not interested in playing along with a debate about debates or bargaining around them.

“The only issue now is whether Donald Trump is going to show up to debate at the date, times, places and formats set by the commission last year through a bipartisan process. We will accept the commission’s invitation and expect Donald Trump to do the same.”